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Field Evaluation of Pseudostem “Injected” Vydate L “Oxamyl” against Banana Nematodes under

Tropical Lowland Conditions in Mindanao, Philippines

L. Trueggelmann, M.C. Obello, L.M. Bacus, N.M. Dawi*, Ph. D.R.Q. Soquita*, D.K. Alovera, J.B. Simbajon and C.S. Caharian

*DuPont Far East

SESSION 4: SOIL AND PLANT HEALTH

INTERNATIONAL BANANA SYMPOSIUMBanana Improvement, Health Management, Use Diversification

and Adaptation to Climate ChangeThe Lees Hotel, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan November 20, 2012

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INTRODUCTION

• Banana nematodes cause yield losses due to root damage by slowing down plant growth, lengthening the time to fruiting, reducing bunch weight, and decreasing the productive life of the farm.

• Soil application of nematicides was in the past the practical and effective method for large-scale banana plantations to control nematode population.

• The soon appearing problem of efficacy loss due to enhanced biodegradation after repeated application of the same a.i. was suggested to be mitigated by the rotation of products with different modes of action (Moens et al., 2004).

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INTRODUCTION

• However, the negative environmental impacts and the applicator’s exposure to the in general highly toxic nematicidesare of increasing concern for the public, the producer, the consumer and policy makers.

• Based on the behavior and spatial distribution with and within the root of the most notorious nematode pests, Radopholus similis, Helicotylenchus spp. and Pratylenchus spp., it was suggested that injection of systemic nematicides into the pseudostem may replace the applications of granular to the soil and thereby overcome biodegradation problems as well as drastically reduce environmental pollution and occupational health risks to workers (Araya and De Waele, 2004).

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Pseudostem Injection of “Oxamyl” an Alternative Nematicide Application Method?

• Gowen (1977) demonstrated that leaf applied “Oxamyl” can control nematodes in banana seedlings.

• Promising results for the pseudostem injection with the liquid formulation of Vydate L®, active ingredient “Oxamyl”, were reported from Central America (Araya, 2004).

• With the aim to test if this new mode of application is also suitable for Cavendish production under Mindanao conditions a field trial was initiated, which included beside the nematicidal effect also observations on the corm weevil (Cosmopolites sordidus Germar) and aphid (Pentalonia negronervosa Cocq.) population.

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OBJECTIVES

• TECHNOLOGY VALIDATION - Validate if the pseudostem application of Vydate L® (Oxamyl) is also suitable for the control of parasitic nematodes of Cavendish banana in Mindanao.

• APPLICATION INTENSITY - Evaluate the efficacy of Vydate L® in 4 and 3 cycle/year application.

• ECONOMIC FEASABILITY - Determine the cost effectiveness of Vydate L® against banana nematodes.

TREATMENTS1-Vydate L® applied 4 cycle/year 2-Vydate L® applied 3 cycle/year3-Untreated

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Location, Duration, Experimental Design Location : Pristine Meadows Agri-Development Inc.

Digos-City, Mindanao, PhilippinesDuration : Tow years - March 2010 to April 2012Experimental Design : Randomized Complete Block (RCBD)No. of Replication : SixPlot size : 500 m2

Soil Type : Clay loamCavendish Variety : Grand Naine, permanently cropped since 1992Population/hectare : 1,860 (average)Cropping cycle : 1.2 (10 months harvest to harvest)1st year harvest : Plants received 2 injection cycle2nd year harvest : Plants received 2 to 3 injection cycle

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Calibrated Philip Drencher

Vydate L (Oxamyl) Radopholus similis Helicotylenchus sp.

TEST PRODUCT AND TARGET PEST

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PSEUDOSTEM INJECTION POINTS

5 ml into 20 cmheight from ground

5 ml into50 cmheight from ground

5 ml into20 cmheight

from ground

2.5 ml into50 cmheight

from ground

Inject 2.5 ml into 10 cm

height from ground

Drench 0.5,1.0 and1.0 ml

per petiole

1st

Point

2nd

Point

Non-bearing Follower Sucker

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ROOT SAMPLING (Permanent data plant before Vydate L® Application Cycle according to Davide, 2005)

1st

Left side2nd

Right side4th

Back to Left side3rd

Center

ROOT CLASSIFICATION

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HARVEST DATA PARAMETERSBunch weight

Treatment Label

CalibrationFruit Age

through ribbon color

Number of Hands

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OTHER OBSERVATIONS

Corm weevil trap

Aphid populationin sucker plant

Bunchy-top and Bract mosaicdisease infected plant

Blown down plants dueto nematode damaged

BT BM

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

18,000

Initial 1st Year 2nd Year

Rado

phol

ussim

ilisC

ount

/100

g r

oot

Vydate L @ 4 cycle/year Vydate L @ 3 cycle/year Untreated1 Means followed by the same letter per sampling date are not significant at P< 0.05 by DMRT

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Figure 1. Average Radopholus similis count/100g root of Vydate L® NematicideTrial (March 2010 to April 2012).

Critical level_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

A

A

A

AB

AB

A

BB

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Figure 1. Average Helicotylenchus sp. count/100g root of Vydate L® NematicideTrial (March 2010 to April 2012).

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

Initial 1st Year 2nd Year

Hel

icot

ylen

chus

sp. C

ount

/ 10

0 g

root

Vydate L @ 4 cycle/year Vydate L @ 3 cycle/year Untreated1 Means followed by the same letter per sampling date are not significant at P< 0.05 by DMRT

A A

Critical level_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

AA A

B

B B

B

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Functional Roots

Treatment Application Cycle/Year

Initial (%)

1st Year 2nd Year Overall (2Years)% % +(-) % % +(-) % +(-)

Vydate L 4 58.3 59.8 +3 66.7 +11 +14Vydate L 3 60.7 59.2 -3 59.5 +1 -2Untreated - 69.5 61.8 -11 66.5 +8 -4

50% and above Damaged RootsVydate L 4 32.4 34.7 +7.2 26.5 -23.6 -18.0Vydate L 3 30.7 31.3 +2.2 23.7 -24.5 -22.8Untreated - 22.2 33.3 +50.4 28.5 -14.5 +28.6

Dead RootsVydate L 4 9.2 5.5 -40 6.8 +24 -25.5Vydate L 3 8.3 9.5 +14 17.2 +81 +106Untreated - 8.3 4.8 -42 4.8 0 -42

Table-1. Average Root Quality Status (Root Volume) as Affected by the Applicationof Vydate L®. March 2010 to April 2012.

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Treatment Application Cycle/Year

No. of Samples

Bunch Wt. (kg) No. of Hands

Initial 1st Year 2nd Year Initial 1st Year 2nd Year

Vydate L 4 95 32.5b 31.3a 31.3b 9.9a 9.9a 9.5a

Vydate L 3 94 31.9b 31.7ab 29.9a 9.6a 10.3b 9.8a

Untreated - 95 29.0a 34.0b 26.4a 9.7a 10.4b 9.3a

Treatment Application Cycle/Year

No. of Samples Fruit Age (weeks) Calibration (cm)

Vydate L 4 95 10.6a 10.6a 11.1a 45.1a 44.9a 44.9a

Vydate L 3 94 10.4a 10.6a 11.1a 45.2a 44.6a 44.3a

Untreated - 95 11.0a 10.7a 10.8a 44.5a 44.7a 41.3a1Means in the same column followed by the same letter is not significantly different at P< 0.05 by DMRT

Table-2. Average Harvest Parameters (Bunch Weight, Hand Class, Calibrationand Age) as Affected by Vydate L. March 2010 - April 2012.

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0123456789

10

Initial 2 4 6 8 10 12 3 6 9 12

Acc

umul

ated

cou

nts

Months of First Year Month of Second Year

Vydate L@ 4 cycle/yr. Vydate L@ 3 cycle/yr. UntreatedVydate L@ 4 cycle/yr. Vydate L@ 3 cycle/yr. Untreated

Corm weevil / trap

Blown-down plants due to nematode damaged

Figure-3. Accumulated counts of corm weevil/trap and blown-down incidence ofVydate L ® Nematicide Trial. March 2010 to April 2012.

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0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Initial 2 4 6 8 10 12 3 6 9 12

Num

ber of BT

/BM

incidenceNum

ber

of S

ucke

rs w

/ Aph

ids

Months of First Year Months of Second Year

Suckers w/ Aphids in Vydate L 4 cycle/yr. Suckers w/ Aphids in Vydate L 3cycle/yr.Suckers w/ Aphids in Untreated BT/BM case in Vydate L 4 cycle/yr.BT/BM case in Vydate L 3 cycle/yr. BT/BM case in Untreated

Figure-4. Accumulated number of suckers with aphids infestation and Bunchy Topor Bract Mosaic incidence (March 2010 to April 2012).

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CONCLUSION

• Vydate L® at 4 and 3 cycles per year application with the rates of 10, 7.5 and 5 ml injected to the pseudostem of non-bearing, follower and sucker plants, respectively, reduced Radopholus population from above the critical level of 10,000 per 100 g root to tolerable levels within one year and further lowered the count after two years application, whereas the population of Radopholus continually increased in the untreated plots.

• The nematicide at 4 application cycles per year can eventually lower down the Helicotylenchus population after one year but a further reduction was not observed in the second year.

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CONCLUSION

• The improvement of good or functional roots and reduction in dead roots corresponded to the reduction in Radopholus and Helicotylenchus population.

• However, it did not reflect immediately on the volume of marketable fruit after one year application. Instead, after the second year of application a yield increase was observed.

• The application of Vydate L®, either of the three (3) or four (4) cycles per year did not provide a statistically significant reduction of corm weevil and aphid population and blown-down incidents. The rate of Vydate L® at early plant stage might not be sufficient against these pests.

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